Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Edmonton Riverbend.
Quite a few members have risen here today to talk about new facts related to the motion. Of course I would like to debate any subject pertaining to the federal government, such as how this government is managing its finances. I would also like to have the opportunity to debate its lack of respect for workers in the province of Alberta, workers in the oil industry who are looking for work and for whom this government is doing nothing. This Parliament can debate any topic at all. This particular topic has to do with the ethics of this government and the ethics and decisions of the Minister of Justice.
I will begin with an excerpt from her mandate letter, which states:
We have also committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government.
That, of course, was written by the Prime Minister. It goes on to say:
It is important that we acknowledge mistakes when we make them. Canadians do not expect us to be perfect—they expect us to be honest, open, and sincere in our efforts to serve the public interest.
I agree. Here on this side of the House, we do not expect the members opposite or cabinet ministers to be perfect; however, we do expect the mandate letters sent to each of the ministers to be respected.
It is also stated:
Moreover, they have an obligation to perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny. This obligation is not fully discharged merely by acting within the law.
When we have been debating this issue so far, we have been looking at the law and the expectation. However, that side set the expectation very high. Therefore, we are asking on this side of the House simply that the expectation that the Liberals put forward to the general public and to members of the House is met, regardless of the party they are in. However, they are not doing this. They are not living up to this high expectation that they set. If they want to be treated differently, if they want to get credit for acting to a certain ethical bar, they should meet this new expectation.
In fact, when the previous Conservative government was brought to power by Canadians who voted for them, the very first large piece of legislation they brought in was Bill C-2. This was the Federal Accountability Act. It was the greatest change to how this House works, how public office holders are expected to act, and what they are expected to be doing in their dealings with interest groups, stakeholders, and persons who may want something from the government, who are seeking an advantage of some sort.
I am worried when certain members get up and begin to pontificate and tell us that we cannot be debating this because it is not an issue. Let us go back to 2006. Let us go back to the 1990s, if you want, and see what happened that eventually led to the introduction of the Federal Accountability Act.
The Accountability Act was directly in response to the sponsorship scandal, and it was members of the Liberal Party who caused the sponsorship scandal. In fact, I recently read La Rébellion tranquille, by Martine Tremblay, which gave us a history of the Bloc, the movement in the province of Quebec. The sponsorship scandal gave fuel to that party. It basically allowed it to continue on for an extra decade. The scandal involved millions of dollars, with Liberal Party organizers funnelling money from government programs into their pockets. It did more damage to our confederation, more damage to federal unity, than I think any other act in the last 50 years that I can remember. Therefore, we should start with that.
It is interesting too, because when we think about this, it was about 10 years ago, on April 11, 2006, when the first reading of that bill was tabled in the House. The third read reading was in June 21, 2006. Therefore, it is almost exactly 10 years since that happened. In that act, the then Conservative government proposed the Conflict of Interest Act, creating for the first time a legislative regime governing the ethical conduct of public office holders, both during and after employment.
We have to imagine that no party is perfect; no individual is perfect. The only expectation we have is that if we set a public expectation, we will rise up and live up to the expectation that has been set with the public.
It is important to remember that, when that bill was reported back, it was after a fulsome debate at committee, and many amendments were made, both by members of the government and members of the opposition at the time. Therefore, the bill that basically reset ethical standards, the expectations that both ministers and members of Parliament have to live by, was given unanimous agreement that this needed to be done, that the content of it was something everybody could agree to.
I want to take this opportunity to do something I have done in every single speech, and I am sure the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount will appreciate this. There is a Yiddish proverb that I think applies here. It is that caution brings speed in the end. If the Minister of Justice had been more cautious in her dealings with stakeholders and in how she approached these types of events, she would not find herself in a situation where members are calling into question her behaviour and actions outside of the House. It is really unfortunate.
I heard, during question period today, the Prime Minister say that he leads the government by cabinet. We do not do any favours for members of cabinet when we do not allow them to speak for themselves. The Minister of Democratic Institutions spoke up today on this matter and she raised a few interesting points—I will give her that—but she also said that the previous Conservative government disrespected Parliament and the House and did not meet her expectations for ethical conduct.
What could be more disrespectful than not allowing the minister to speak up for herself and defend her own actions and, instead, the government House leader often doing it? I would love to hear from the Minister of Justice and get her version, her facts, and her way of thinking when she took those actions. That is an important thing to remember. We should always live up to the expectations we have set, not perfection.
A member previously mentioned prorogation. The Conservative government prorogued Parliament, as I remember, but former prime minister Chrétien also prorogued Parliament to avoid the Auditor General's report on the sponsorship scandal. Therefore, let us remember that, too. We are not all perfect, and not all governments are perfect. Governments make mistakes, and sometimes individuals in governments make mistakes, so let us not call for perfection. Let us call for meeting a new standard.
When I think of these facts, I think that the debate until now has kind of ignored the fact that nobody has called for perfection. People have been calling for common sense, a test of reasonableness. The Minister of Justice is going to be headlining a $1,000-per-head fundraiser later this month, basically copying what the provincial Liberal government has been doing up to now, which is setting fundraising targets for its ministers. It leads us to wonder if that is happening on that side of the House as well, and if members are adopting these practices.
I go back to the budget document. On page 210, in chapter 7, it says, “Better Government for Canadians, Focusing on Outcomes”, and that is what the government and the minister should be doing. Whenever they attend fundraisers, whenever they agree to a meeting with stakeholders where there is an exchange of money, potentially, because people buy tickets to attend, they should look at the outcome: what will the public outcome of this be?
What will the public think if they are meeting with individuals who could potentially be eligible to be appointed to a Governor in Council appointment, either to become judges, heads of crown corporations, or ambassadors? What would the outcome be of having this fundraiser? Will there have to be debate in the House as to whether their actions were correct or incorrect or whether they should return the money or keep it?
The debate has been fulsome. Lots of members have raised interesting points. They have spoken about the importance of ethics and meeting a new expectation, and that is what I want the government to do. This is a government by cabinet. I want the Minister of Justice to speak up for herself. I call on her to return the money. That is the right thing to do.
I would invite all members to vote for this motion. It is a good motion. It is straight to the point. It is all Conservatives are asking for.